Rural rate relief
Some types of rural business can get a discount on their Business Rates.
You might be able to get help with your Business Rates if your bill says your business is in any of the areas listed here.
Find out which areas count for rural rate relief in Cheshire East
How much rural rate relief businesses can get
Most types of rural rate relief include both a mandatory and a discretionary discount. You will definitely get the mandatory discount if your business meets the conditions. The discretionary amount isn't guaranteed.
Businesses that can get mandatory rural rate relief can't claim small business rate relief.
Discounts for rural businesses
The rateable value thresholds given here are from 1 April 2010.
Rural business rates discounts
| Type of business | Mandatory discount | Maximum discretionary discount | Rural rate relief category |
|---|
| Sole post office or general store (selling household goods and food for human consumption that isn't mostly sweets), where the rateable value is less than £8,500 |
50% |
50% |
29 |
| Sole pub where the rateable value is less than £12,500 |
50% |
50% |
30 |
| Sole petrol station - on an A road and where the rateable value is less than £12,500 |
50% |
50% |
31 |
| Sole petrol station - not on an A road, and where the rateable value is less than £12,500 |
50% |
50% |
32 |
| Food shop where the main business is the sale of food for human consumption and where the rateable value is less than £8,500. Not catering businesses or shops selling mostly sweets |
50% |
50% |
33 |
| Business of benefit to the community and where the rateable value is less than £16,500 |
0% |
100% |
34 |
How to apply for rural rate relief
You can apply for rural rate relief by filling in our online form.
Apply for Business Rates relief
You must keep paying the rates shown on your bill while you wait to hear from us, unless we've agreed you don't have to.
Backdating claims for rural rate relief
The rules about backdating depend on whether the relief is mandatory or discretionary.
Mandatory relief
You can backdate claims for mandatory relief for the last 6 years.
Discretionary relief
A decision to award discretionary relief must be made by the council before 30 September following the 1 April – 31 March period the application relates to. This means you need to apply for any relief for the rating year ending 31 March 2021 before 31 August 2021 to allow us time to consider your application.
What happens next
We may visit the property and check your business meets the conditions for any mandatory relief. We'll then consider whether we can give any discretionary relief and if so, how much.
When we give discretionary relief, we are spending council tax payers and ratepayers money, so we need to be sure that giving the relief will benefit the community. We follow guidelines set down by councillors.
Once we've made our decision, we'll either send you a new bill or let you know why you can't get a discount.
We try to make decisions within 4 weeks, but it might take longer.
If you think we have made a mistake about a mandatory relief or want to challenge a decision about a discretionary relief, you can appeal.
Renewing rural business rate relief
Once mandatory rural rate relief is added to your bill, you'll get it automatically the next year. However we regularly check that you are still eligible to receive relief. If you have received a review letter from us you will need to complete our review form.
Changes in circumstance for rural rate relief
You must tell us if your circumstances change. For example, if you are no longer the only shop or pub, or if you change what you sell so you no longer count for rural relief.
We do sometimes review reliefs. If you haven't told us about a change that means your property no longer counts, you'll have to pay the backdated business rates within 14 days.
Areas that count for rural rate relief in Cheshire East
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